Intelligence & Surveillance
Just Security’s expert authors provide legal and policy analysis of intelligence and surveillance activities, focusing on their impact on national security and on civil liberties and privacy rights, and their oversight by Congress and the courts.
1,807 Articles
The Second Circuit and the Politics of Surveillance Reform
I have very little to add to Marty’s analysis of Judge Lynch’s opinion for a unanimous Second Circuit panel holding that the NSA’s bulk telephone metadata program…
[UPDATED with details and analysis] BREAKING: Second Circuit rules that Section 215 does not authorize telephony bulk collection program
[UPDATED] The opinion is here. Judge Sack’s concurring opinion is here. Because the court rules on statutory grounds, it does not reach the Fourth Amendment questions.…
USA Freedom Act: An Updated Readers’ Guide on Section 215
For the last several weeks, Congress has been discuss reforms to Section 215 of the Patriot Act, a provision that has been used to justify the collection of vast quantities…
Once again: “Which agency?” and “How secret?” are separate and independent questions
Karen DeYoung has a story in the Post this morning about an ongoing debate on the Hill concerning whether the CIA “should be in the drone business at all, or if such lethal…
We Need a Full, Transparent Review of the US Targeted Killing Program
This post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections” feature, in which a different Just Security editor examines the big stories from the previous week or looks…
USA Freedom and the Surveillance Reform That Almost Was
Committee markups can be a dry affair, an opportunity for political showboating, or both. Yesterday’s markup of the USA Freedom Act in the House Judiciary Committee was neither.…
The Intelligence Time Machine
On Tuesday, members in the House and Senate introduced new versions of the USA Freedom Act that would prohibit bulk collection of records under Section 215 of the Patriot Act,…
The Minimalist Surveillance Reforms of USA Freedom
On April 30, the House Judiciary Committee will take up a warmed-over version of last year’s USA Freedom Act. The committee has offered a rather optimistic claim of the surveillance…
Encryption, Anonymity, and the “Right to Science”
“The right to science is sometimes considered a prerequisite for the realization of a number of other human rights.” – Farida Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on the field…
Ten More Strikes the Obama Administration Should Immediately Acknowledge and Investigate
The Obama administration took a long overdue step toward transparency for its “targeted” killing program when it last week openly acknowledged and took responsibility for the…
CIA Exemption from President’s Restrictions on Drone Strikes in Pakistan
In May 2013, President Obama announced a new directive which presumably places heavy restrictions on drone strikes and other lethal operations outside of the Afghan theater. One…
US Drone Killings of Western Aid Workers Highlight Problems of Nebulous War
President Obama’s apology for the accidental killings of two innocent hostages by US drones in Pakistan has led to understandable criticism of the United States’ secret drone…